Director of Facilities & Operations

UNITED WORLD COLLEGE OF SOUTH EAST ASIA; Singapore; On-site; SGD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational institution in Singapore is seeking a Facilities and Operations Manager to oversee various functional areas including construction and maintenance, transport, food services, and security. The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of experience in a senior role, excellent leadership and interpersonal skills, and a strong understanding of facilities management in a diverse context. This role contributes significantly to student experiential learning and campus safety.

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of Facilities and Operations regulations.
• Experience in a large scale organization, ideally in education sector.
• Intercultural competence and ability to work in a diverse context.

Responsibilities

• Ensure provision of safe facilities focused on customer satisfaction.
• Develop and drive departmental culture aligned with college values.
• Provide leadership and opportunities for team development.

Skills

Excellent communications skills

Strong interpersonal and influencing skills

Effective management of resources

Strong decision making skills

Excellent analytical and problem solving skills

Exceptional leadership skills

Education

Degree and relevant professional qualifications

10+ years in a senior leadership role

Job description

Main Responsibilities

• Oversight of the following functional areas: Facilities operations, Construction / Maintenance; Housekeeping; Transport & Logistics including Bus Services for students; Food Services; Security; The College Shop; Reception; Environment Health & Safety; Built Environment Sustainability
• Develops a Departmental Strategic Plan that is aligned with the College Strategic Plans
• Ensure a safe and seamless provision of physical facilities and associated operations that is focused on customer satisfaction and efficient and sustainable working practices
• Develops and drives a positive departmental culture in line with the values and mission of the College
• Provides leadership to team members at all levels, including opportunities for coaching and development, to maximise work output, work quality and employee engagement
• Provides effective team and project management duties, including overseeing project completion timelines, monitoring project costs, and ensuring College requirements are met
• Plans and allocates appropriate resources
• Fiscal management of staffing cost, operating and capital budgets and associated P&L accounts, including developing multi-year capital work plans and budgets keeping in view the needs of new campus development
• Proactively identify patterns and problem areas, and implement effective solutions to increase efficiency
• Takes responsibility and initiative in smooth running of all business operations and identifying and managing risk across the College
• On-going planning and assessment of departmental effectiveness. Continuously re-shaping departmental best practices to provide highest stakeholder satisfaction
• Strong liaison across other departments to ensure effective delivery of services
• Work with the Head of Risk Management and the EHS Manager to develop and maintain a College wide Environment, Health and Safety framework, ensuring emergency procedures, risk assessment, specialty spaces (such as Science, Design & Technology, Arts) are audited and all related needs are fulfilled as expected by local authorities
• Working with other College leaders particularly the Learning Leadership Team (LLT) and the Operational Leadership Team (OLT), to oversee planning and forecasting of the annual events calendar to ensure capacity of College events; support and guide all significant event arrangements and help in managing various stakeholder expectations especially during weeks of heavy workload
• Maintains strong relationships with any third-parties (vendors, agencies etc) that the department works with regularly to ensure smooth procurement and delivery of products and services
• Provide clear direction and setting of time-bound objectives for partners based on Campus, including Food Services, Transport, Landscape, Safety and Security, Air-conditioning and Mechanical services and any other services where partners are involved
• Maintain strong relationships with all internal as well as external stakeholders of the UWCSEA community
• Understand the various regulatory needs and ensure compliance to relevant rules, regulations and statutes across all related functions
• Manage inventory and assets including periodic facilities and equipment condition assessments
• Implement and direct the building maintenance / repair contracted services to ensure that the departmental building maintenance / repair service standards are consistent with College administrative policies and procedures and contract agreements
• Work collaboratively with procurement team to plan appropriate sourcing methodologies for goods and services based on college's process and policies in an effective manner. Must be able to prepare, execute and manage a range of contracts effectively.
• Project-based administration including but not limited to: Prepare cost estimates, consults with professional service partners / experts; interfaces with control agencies; originates documents for service agreements, special repair construction and maintenance contracts; supervision and execution of projects; conducts pre-bid job showings; coordinates, inspects and evaluates the work of service partners; approves expenditures related to the rehabilitation and maintenance of campus facilities
• Ensure that the following health and safety processes are carried out: Equipment and facilities are inspected regularly to determine condition, safety and need for maintenance. Plan and schedule an effective maintenance routine; That the workplace and work project sites are inspected regularly to ensure full compliance with industrial safety orders; Safety meetings and employee training in the proper and safe use of tools and equipment are held and documented
• Work closely with various Singapore Authorities and local inspectors on all requirements including and not limited to renovations and new construction, fire code requirements, elevator inspections, water tank inspections, food safety audits, vector control and fire safety infrastructure testing
• Analyse data from various collection points to seek areas of improvement. Curate the data inputs and come up with strategic as well as operational recommendations to continuously raise the service standard and enhance the overall community experience
• Envision and provide strategic direction to remain a leader in the area of Facilities and operations, evidenced with national level accreditations such as SLE Platinum Green, Gold standard in Accessibility, PUB Gold, Community in Bloom and SG Clean and similar
• Work with the IT team to ensure that operations are leveraging the latest digital technologies and fully integrated with the digital infrastructure
• Provide guidance to student projects and ensure that the Facilities and Operations team contributes actively towards experiential learning of the student community

Person Specifications

• Degree and relevant professional qualifications
• Strong Understanding of Facilities and Operations Regulations
• 10 years or more experience in a similar senior leadership role in Facilities and Operations in a large scale organisation, ideally in the education sector
• Excellent Communications Skills
• Strong interpersonal and influencing skills with a collaborative mindset
• Intercultural competence and the ability to work comfortably in a diverse multicultural context
• Effective management of resources
• Strong decision making skills
• Excellent analytical and problem solving skills
• Financial and Business acumen
• Exceptional leadership skills - results oriented and team oriented at the same time
• Strong stakeholder skills to garner credibility with all levels of the organisation
• Deep Project and Change Management skills
• Dependable, committed and willingness to be on call at anytime

Application

The UWC Mission is to make education a force to unite people, nations and culture for peace and a sustainable future. We are committed to creating a community in which all members feel safe and secure, and know that their authentic selves and individual differences are accepted with respect and care. At UWCSEA, we acknowledge that diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) is an ongoing and evolving process and strive to create and sustain a sense of belonging for all members of our community, past, present and future. All qualified applicants, including those who identify as a part of marginalized group(s) and individuals with (dis)abilities are all encouraged to apply. Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all the students in our care and expects all applicants to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices and all appointments are subject to interview, satisfactory references, identity and criminal record checks.